University of Mississippi

                                                     The Present 

Children’s magazines in the twenty-first century appear to be on the cusp of great change 

with the Digital Revolution and yet current print publications remain similar to their 

predecessors. The editorial objective of children’s periodicals has changed little since their 

inception in 1789.  

“From the very beginning of children’s magazines in the eighteenth century…diversity of 

content and blending of purpose—informing while entertaining—has been the dual objective of 

an enormous quantity of children’s magazines worldwide.”

13

    

While educating and entertaining have been primary goals throughout American juvenile 

publishing history the ways of achieving those goals have differed greatly. 

---

 

59 

To say that changes in publishing have occurred during the last two centuries is an 

understatement. Seismic shifts from the Industrial Revolution to the Digital Revolution have 

impacted both the country and the magazine publishing industry. From the printing press and 

mail system with postage and print circulation and subscriptions to the invention of the radio, 

television, computer, Internet, and mobile device—changes in publishing and marketing from 

early times to the present have been remarkable.  

The present seems to be the dawn of a new age. The first students who have never known 

a world without the Internet graduated from high school in 2010. These technologically 

sophisticated “digital natives” insist on new technology as a complement to their print diet. Will 

a generation that has now grown up completely in the Digital Age and will soon constitute the 

primary media audience abandon print media?